“We’ll be here, rain or shine,” multiple farmers market vendors said Saturday morning as they braved blustery, rainy conditions in downtown Vancouver for the kickoff of the fall market.
The customers, too, donned their rain jackets and windbreakers to check out the local offerings with a holiday twist. The weather didn’t stop Megan Maze and Abigail Watson from finding some treasures.
“It’s what the Pacific Northwest is about,” Maze said, bundled against the chill.
Vancouver Farmers Market Executive Director Jordan Boldt was counting on people like Maze and Watson when planning to keep the market open for the autumn season. When COVID-19 restrictions shuttered some indoor holiday markets last year, the farmers market filled that void with an outdoor shopping space. Now, Boldt hopes to build the customer base outside of the peak summer season, with hopes of eventually expanding the marketplace to year-round shopping.
“As long as the customers are here, we’ll be here,” Boldt said.
A few vendors did call it quits Saturday after the wind snapped their tents.
However, Boldt said some 20 new vendors signed up for the fall season and others added winter holiday-themed products.
What: Fall Farmers Market
When: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays, Nov. 6 through Dec. 18
Where: West Eighth Street and Esther Street in downtown Vancouver
Don’t forget: Masks are required.
“It’s going to still be a relatively robust market,” he said. “We’ll see 70 to 80, maybe even up to 90 vendors a day here.”
It was important to Boldt to have the seasonal market, which runs through Dec. 18, to connect customers with local businesses that lack a storefront — like Little Miss Baketress.
Owner Elizabeth Sebastian usually sells her sourdough rolls and mochi treats at the east Vancouver market. For the fall, she made the trip to Esther Short Park.
Fiona Dohman has been bringing her Granny Fi’s shortbread treats to the summer market on Sundays for years. For the fall market, she broke out some holiday packaging and some traditional English Christmastime baked goods.
“The weather’s not always the best, but people still like to come out, and a lot of people like to support vendors,” Dohman said.
She hauled her trailer full of goodies back to the parkside market because she knew people would attend.
“Especially this market, people are very loyal to the market and they like to support local,” Dohman said.
Maze typically visits the summer market and brought Watson with her this time. Although they like to go to farmers markets for the flowers, their arms held bags of bath bombs and other things that caught their eyes as they walked.
This year’s summer market fared better than the board, at times, feared, the director said.
“We’re really grateful for how it turned out,” Boldt said. “I mean, obviously it hasn’t been like gangbusters, but it’s been solid and people are successful. And even though some of our vendors are not back to where they were in 2019 — which was a banner year for everybody — they’re still showing up, which is an indicator that it’s worth their time to be here.”
